Savatage - On the Run – totally badass grooving swagger, 9/10
Witchking – Witchking – first minute left me worried with that really processed guitar tone and kind of clumsy riffs, but once the vocals came in it really got going, nice dramatic tension and some sweet wailing, will definitely check this album out, but is it really villainous if it’s the king? 9/10 reduced to a 6/10 for thematic ambiguity
Cloven Hoof – Nightstalker – probably the most overrated NWOBHM band, total amateur hour performance and really generic songwriting in the relatively late year of 1984, the chorus gives me 1983-era Slayer vibes so that puts it a little ahead of the others (though it’s not better than Slayer’s Night Stalker); actually that bridge has a neat spookiness to it as well, overall pretty good by their standards at least, 5/10
Flotsam and Jetsam - Der Führer – I suppose Hitler’s suicide was probably illegal in Nazi Germany but that’s about it, the song itself is pretty basic/generic and might have been the worst on the album if not for the SIEG HEIL chorus, 5/10 reduced to a 3/10
Oracle - Killer Queen – I want to love this album but the endless harmonies come off as more sappy than mystical or however they’re often sold, it doesn’t sound like some psyched-out 70s prog fusion with NWOBHM, it sounds like some psyched-out 70s band covering an average NWOBHM song, also, it’s her kingdom, 5/10 reduced to a 3/10
Trouble - The Tempter – obvious classic, although this opens with the line “I am the tempter / ruler of hell”, the overall song is more clearly presented as being about Satan’s crimes against humanity and God, rather than just a description of bad things done by a bad person, 9/10
The Lamp of Thoth - I Love the Lamp – that first minute was horrendous but there was some good stuff mixed in, the Iron Man ripoff was so flagrant it somehow crosses the line back into acceptability, 5/10
Omen - Death Rider – badass barbarian raid classic, 9/10
Ancient Rites - Morbid Glory (Gilles de Rais 1404-1440) – this is one of those albums that gets called black metal because people are stupid creatures of habit, really strong guitar sound and ominous vibes at parts for that occult caveman feeling, but hurt by the drum machine and some rigid verses, 6/10